Engine rental hours

They are referred to as horsepower hours.  Each carrier tracks the amount of horsepower hours it is owed and owes and "payments" are made 9 times out of 10 by lending units back and forth...rarely does any form of monetary payment take place.

Does anyone know who pays for maintenance and repairs of the units when they are paying off horsepower hours? How do the railroads make sure that their units are not abused when on foreign rails?  ......DaveB

Thanks Form D.  I had heard the term "running off the hours" but wasn't sure if it meant when the prime mover was "making smoke" whether at idle or notch 8. Or if the hours started and stopped when the unit left and returned to the lessors property (the first premise of engine running would be most logical).

 

And DaveB, your question was what my next one was to be: who pays for repairs especially if a short line doesn't have a heavy backshop to repair the prime mover or traction motors, or frame welding etc?

 

Then how does the leasing road access wear and tear vs say unit was abused?

When the locomotives returned, it's inspected for collision or derailment damage, in addition to normal things like measuring wheels, checking brake rigging, etc.  Also, a check is made to see if all removable parts (such as chains, tools, fire extinguishers) are intact.  Normally, though, locomotives that are leased to another road are already well-used, and it's the lessee railroad that really needs to do a careful inspection on the lessor railroad's "one-owner" locomotives before accepting them.

 

During the term of the lease, the Federal blue card will identify the lessee as the operator.  The lessee is responsible for all required periodic inspections and repairs.  If the lessor is responsible by contract for maintenance, then the lessee is responsible for returning the unit to the lessor railroad before the next mandated inspection date.

 

It's not so formal in the case of pool agreements.  Only if there is an issue with repeated scavenging of removable items or fresh derailment/collision damage is there an issue.  If there is major damage (wreck damage or a major component failure), the railroads agree, on a case-by-case basis, who will make repairs.  Routine maintenance to off-line locomotives in pool service is done at a standard charge and billed to the owner road.

Thanks Tom for the insight.

What prompted my question was seeing a pair of NS units running on CNs rails here in Cedar Rapids yard.  While I've seen foreign power on other lines, seeing a shiny NS pair was a "treat" (and darned no camera to capture them before they disappeared into the sunset )

Wow, No wonder RR trade power back and forth to even the books.  Kind of reminds me of how federal reserve balance banks against other banks to minimize actual cash movements.